making news in america this morning, historic flood. the rain is finally ending, but there is a new host of concerns in south carolina. water supply running short. rivers still cresting and dams on the verge of breaking. we have the latest. in-flight emergency, a pilot dies while at the helm of a packed plain. the co-pilot taking over. passengers unaware what's happening in the cockpit as the plane is diverted. they're talking about the ordeal this morning. rescued from a reptile. a massive snake putting the squeeze on a pet store worker wrapping around his neck. how he was freed just in time.

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and a mcmuffin no matter the time. the mcdonald's menu change today that's got the internet buzzing right now. good tuesday morning. we begin with south carolina under water. the historic rainfall has finally tapered off but the chaos continues. >> rivers are still rising and dams are breaching forcing more people from their homes. at least 13 people are dead this morning. clean drinking water is in short supply. hundreds of roads and bridges remain closed, completely shutting off some towns. and president obama has signed a disaster declaration releasing federal aid for the relief effort. we're going to get the latest right now from abc's lana zak. >> reporter: the rains have slowed, but after a virtual fire hose of water was turned on south carolina, the state remains waterlogged today. >> just because the rain stops does not mean that we are out of the woods. >> reporter: you can see from

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have simply succumbed. even after avoiding hurricane joaquin, officials say this destruction is as bad as when hurricane hugo hit in 1989. >> what we got on us is all we own. >> have to start all back over. >> reporter: about 40,000 left without drinkable water. 550 bridges and roads closed. thousands in shelters or stranded. many like this driver escaping just in time. rescue workers pulled basket after basket of evacuees from the rising waters with tales of heroism coming from neighbor helping neighbor. >> when i saw them, their water rising, i said, hey, i've got a truck, i've got four-wheel drive. let's -- you know, what can i do and she said i think we need to evacuate. >> reporter: this restaurant owner doing what she can to provide comfort. >> we're still cooking. we're still cooking. >> reporter: sending out a helping hand in every heaping spoonful. lana zak, abc news, washington. >> well, the good news, drier weather is expected in the carolinas today. >> yeah, but take a look at this. this radar, that system still swirling in the atlantic

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hovering close to land. it is slowly moving away from the coast. good news for the cleanup effort after the historic flooding. on the west coast southern california receiving some much-needed rain. the downpours flooded streets in temple city with about a foot and a half of water. in one neighborhood a garbage can covered a storm drain allowing about four feet of water to collect around homes. >> and flash flooding sent water pouring through the las vegas strip. take a look at this. hotel parking lots were submerged after record rainfall. thousands lost power. the worst appears to be over, though. there is only a 20% chance of rain today. coast guard crews have spent another night searching for survivors from the sunken cargo ship, "el faro." only one identified body in a survival suit has been spotted so far. there were nearly three dozen people on board. engine failure left the ship adrift in the middle of hurricane joaquin last week off the bahamas.

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family members are questioning the captain's timing. >> the storm coming, why still send them out? that makes no sense. that doesn't make no sense for nobody. >> yes, they should have pulled that boat back at least a day or so to make sure the water was clear and that storm was clear. >> a shipping company executive said overnight that when the ship sailed on tuesday, the storm was nowhere near where the ship became disabled. the ntsb and coast guard are investigating. a red-eye flight from phoenix to boston made an emergency landing in syracuse new york when the pilot died in the cockpit. fire trucks and an ambulance were waiting but emt couldn't save the pilot who appears to have had a heart attack. the 147 passengers on board were told only that the pilot had fallen ill. >> they like put tarps up so we couldn't see anything out the windows. you know, the cops evacuated everybody away from the windows and then when we got on our flight here, four hours later, they notified us that he passed

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away. >> american has identified the deceased pilot as 57-year-old captain michael johnston who had 25 years with the airline. a pilot dying in the cockpit very rare happening only eight times in the past 20 years. >> the pentagon has corrected an initial u.s. statement about the bombing of a hospital in afghanistan. the top u.s. general in afghanistan says the strike which killed at least 22 people was requested by afghan forces. originally u.s. officials had said the attack was launched because american forces were being threatened by the taliban. doctors without borders, which ran the hospital, is demanding an independent investigation of that incident. former nsa contractor edward snowden says he's willing to go to jail. snowden tells the bbc he has offered to return to the u.s. to face prison time for his leaking of nsa surveillance programs. so far there's been no formal response to his offer from the justice department. snowden has been living in

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russia for the past two years. looking at clinton campaign's first nationwide tv ad. the spot focuses on how republicans are trying to bring down clinton and her compare. it features california congressman kevin mccarthy's controversial statement that the benghazi's panel can take credit for clinton's fall in the polls. clinton also speaking out on the issue of gun control getting emotional at a town hall. >> so many of the parents of these precious children who were murdered have taken the unimaginable grief that they have been bearing and have tried to be the voices that we need to hear. >> that emotional plea alongside a mother of a young victim of the sandy hook shooting. clinton vows to tighten regulations on firearms buyers as well as sellers even using executive action if needed. critics say her plan would not have prevented the oregon

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and speaking of after blasting the gun lobby president obama is heading to roseburg, oregon, later this week. he'll meet privately with the victims' families. the shooter killed nine at umpqua community college before turning the gun on himself. students returned to campus yesterday to lay flowers at a memorial and meet with grief counselors. those benghazi comments by congressman mccarthy have thrown the race for leadership in the house into disarray. mccarthy was once considered a shoo-in to replace outgoing speaker boehner but now boehner has postpone ed d it till the end of october and delayed votes for lower level posts until after that. well, still ahead, a massive recall involving a popular breakfast cereal. plus, derailment. passengers hurt after train cars careen off the tracks. this morning passengers describing what it was like to be on board. and caught on camera. bad call beat-down. a football coach going after a

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well, this morning, crews are working to clear tracks after an amtrak derailment. this one in vermont injured seven people. the train hit a rockslide sending the locomotive and one car down an embankment. passengers describe the moments of chaos right after the train went off the tracks and what the governor called a freak of nature. >> some people started freaking out. i heard the woman behind me, she looked out the window and was like, oh, my god, one of the cars is in the woods. some panic. definitely some anxiety. like there were a few people who were really, really panicked but we managed to call

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them down. >> investigators say it could have been worse. all five of the cars remain upright. a mob of angry air france workers disrupped a meeting at which job cuts were on the table. they targeted two managers including the human resources chief tearing off their shirts off their backs. police had to escort them to safety. the company is proposing cutting 2900 jobs after failing to reach a deal with pilots and losing passengers to other low-cost carriers. general mills is recalling nearly 2 million boxes of its gluten-free cheerios because they may actually not be gluten-free. the recall involve s s original and honey nut cheerios that were made in july at a plant in california. all 1.8 million boxes of them have better used by dates of next july. the company says wheat flour was inadvertently used in a h we post the details at abcnews.com. all right. some good breakfast news or all day news. mcdonald's starting its all day

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breakfast nationwide today. the company will be offering a limited breakfast menu including egg mcmuffins, hash browns and other items at its more than 14,000 locations in the u.s. so the move is designed to boost slumping sales. food industry analyst s s say it could put additional strain on the nation's egg supply which would drive up prices. >> we'd be willing to take that risk. >> we're good with that. >> does delivery.com team up with mcdonald's? is that too much to ask? cecil our floor director is making faces about this one. >> one can hope. when we come back, unnecessary force or was it justified? the video behind a mother's arrest now at the center of a lawsuit. and snake attack. a python wrapping around its owner's neck. the dramatic 911 call coming up. how does it feel to lose the first 10 pounds on weight watchers?

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my knee pain. find a machine at drscholls.com look at that. southern california skiers and snowboarders are celebrating the earliest snowfall in recent memory. mountain high ski resort, about an hour from los angeles, reporting nearly an inch of snow. they're getting ready to open the slopes around halloween if all goes well. >> it's too early for that. come on. checking the roads, that system on the move in the west could bring flash floods. a good day for driving elsewhere. if you're flying, possible trouble spots in salt lake city and phoenix. the city of carlsbad,

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facing a lawsuit filed by a woman who had a violent confrontation with police. >> video of cindy hahn's 2013 her in the face while trying to from the car. hahn said it all started when she used a police hot line to complain that an officer had cursed at her. she said she was then pulled over for an alleged seat belt violation and arrested. charges against hahn have been dropped. this one at a youth football game in florida. the man in the black t-shirt, a coach for one of the teams, now facing a battery charge after appearing to hit a referee. police say leo davis was speeding away from the game when he was stopped. davis has told authorities he was trying to break up a fight and that he did not intentionally hit the ref. and in the meantime, another high school football player has died after being injured during a game. the 17-year-old passed away yesterday at a hospital in seattle. he was hurt while making a tackle last friday night during the fourth quarter of a game.

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injury he suffered. he's the fourth high school player to die because of an on-field injury in this last month. a kentucky man is in critical condition after being attacked by a python. the man is the owner of captive born reptiles and he and his assistant were working with a 20-foot-long, 125-pound snake when it suddenly wrapped itself around him squeezing him until he stopped breathing. the assistant made a panicked call to 911. >> he was feeding his snake and please. >> the snake is squeezing. >> yes. it's wrapped around his neck. his whole face is covered. it's like a 20-foot snake. >> good news, two police officers were there in minutes, and one had experience with snakes and somehow uncoiled the python and wrangled it back into its cage. that got the shop owner breathing again saving his life. and a couple of teenagers are recovering after encounters with sharks.

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a texas boy was bitten on the ankle but he also suffered injuries to his hands while trying to get the shark to let go. the beach patrol in galveston said the teen and his brother waded into a school of fish and that's when the shark attacked. they say shark bites in that area are very rare. and in florida, a surfer there is surprisingly in good spirits one day after he was bitten by a shark on the hand. you can see the gruesome pictures there. it is a result of what took place afterward. the teen tells what happened. >> as i was raising my left hand out of the water, it came to the surface and grabbed my hand and it kind of like shook its head and thrashed, and i took my right hand and like with the palm of my hand i tried to push it off. >> he'll need surgery but he says he'll be back on his board in no time. >> so the espn boys are recovering from monday night football. >> it was a long night. >> we have the football highlights. it was a wild and controversial end to last night's game between

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in the fourth quarter detroit's defense forces a fumble by seattle quarterback russell wilson. the return for a touchdown gets the lions within three points. >> oh, then the controversy, detroit's calvin johnson was about to score a go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes to go, but the seahawks safety kam chancellor punched it free and another batted it out of the end zone. that's the problem, the seahawks were awarded possession but could have been penalized for purposely putting the ball out of bounds. that would have given the ball back to detroit inside the 1. no luck. seattle wins ugly, 13-10, detroit winless on the season. i'm kind of curious what neil and stan think. >> we'll find out what the boys are saying. >> what might be the creepiest moment of the nfl season so far. >> see across the top of the screen, third and 13th in the browns/chargers game which is tied at 13. it's in the third quarter with 13 minutes 13 seconds left and there's 3 seconds on the play clock.

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stranger. this moment or the way the game ended. >> it was a weird ending and the quarterback also wore number 13 for the browns. okay, so up next in "the pulse," the science behind scruff and why some men like to grow beards. and the girl who can't seem to stop sneezing. many wrinkle creams come with high hopes, but hope... doesn't work on wrinkles. clinically proven neutrogena rapid wrinkle repair with the fastest retinol formula available, it works on fine lines and even deep wrinkles. you'll see younger looking skin in just one week. stop hoping for results, and start seeing them. rapid wrinkle repair... ...and for dark spots rapid tone repair. from neutrogena . start the interview with a firm handshake. ay,no! don't do that! try head & shoulders instant relief. it cools on contact, and also

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sneezing has taken over her life and now it's compromising her health, as well. >> i'm constantly in pain with, you know, my abdomen and my legs are hurting because i've been weak and i can barely eat. >> it never went away. >> wow. kaitlyn's parents say it began three weeks ago. doctors have ruled out a virus and allergies. some experts are suggesting it could be stress-related, a reaction to that and they're investigating every possibility. >> that is scary. i hope she finds some sort of relief. and pepsi is making a big deal out of october 21st this year. of course, that's the date that michael j. fox's marty mcfly arrived in "back to the future part 2." >> it snuck up on us. pepsi. so pepsi is producing 6500 bottles of pepsi perfect. price tag on each one, $20.15. >> but it doesn't transport you anywhere apparently, right? they will be available online two weeks from tomorrow.

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or if you're attending new this coming weekend. >> you have to dress like marty mcfly and you'll get one of those. >> really? >> yeah, calvin klein and all. and a generally hairy situation they're starting to recover from in the austrian alps. we say it's hairy because it was the 2015 world beard and mustache championships. they had more than 300 participants all sporting their own unique look. it featured three groupings of dudes, the mustache group, the partial beard group and, of course, the full beard. >> and a new study suggests reasons why it seems more men are growing beards these days. it seems that men might be feeling pressured to stand out so they need something that draws attention. why not grow a beard. you know, it's free. blades anymore. >> and you can look like santa claus. >> i guess you could. >> or kung fu fighters. >> i'm going to use that excuse to grow some scruff. here's some interesting designs there. this competition has been going on for some five years now and people came from 18 different countries.

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now, that's more like it. what's in your wallet? taking a look at our top story, a flight from phoenix to boston makes an emergency landing in syracuse after the pilot passed away in the cockpit. american airlines says captain michael johnson was a 25-year veteran of the airline. the coast guard is searching for any survivors from the cargo ship "el faro." the boat sank last week in hurricane joaquin. so far crews have found one body. historic floodwaters still rising across the carolinas. breaching dams and driving more people from their homes. at least 13 deaths so far and thousands are without drinking water or electricity but federal aid is on the way. today's weather, drier and milder weather in the northeast. finally a dry day for the carolinas. could be stormy in the southwest.

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and finally this half hour it was a tearful night on "dancing with the stars" as each recalled an emotional year in their lives. >> it really was and a strong fan base was not enough to save one star. kabc's george pennacchio takes us backstage. >> gary and anna. >> reporter: 71-year-old gary busey stayed in the competition for four weeks. he says he doesn't need a mirror ball trophy to feel like a winner. >> the mirror ball trophy is useless. what works is when you dance in your heart and achieve an accomplishment on the dance floor with a beautiful partner that is making you be the best you can. >> reporter: among the teams still going for the prize, bindi irwin and derek hough. they had the evening's highest score, 28 out of 30 and the first 10 of the season for a contemporary routine dedicated to her late father. >> it wasn't just for me but it was for dad too and for my family so it meant a lot. it really did. >> reporter: three teams scored triple 9s, tamar braxton and val chmerkovskiy.

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nick carter and burns burgess plus 15-year-old hayes grier and emma slater. alfonso ribeiro stepped in for tom bergeron who needed to be at his ailing father's bedside. witney carson's engagement and alison holker's announcement? >> i'm pregnant. i'm very excited to be here and i also am the corps choreographer. >> paula deen hopes she remembers all the steps. >> something about that damn room when the lights flick on, i just -- >> reporter: the nine remaining teams return to dance again next week but with a twist, each celebrity will dance with a different professional partner. in los angeles, george pennacchio for abc news. >> it's going to be an exciting week because they'll switch partners.